Conventionally, silica has been used as a reinforcing filler in order to enhance the performances of tires such as durability (abrasion resistance) and fuel economy. Also, because a satisfactory effect cannot be achieved by using silica alone, silica has been used in combination with a silane coupling agent that bonds silica to the rubber component.
In order for a silane coupling agent to react with silica, it is necessary for an alkoxy group or the like bonded to the silicon atom in the silane coupling agent to be hydrolyzed to form a silanol group. However, because hydrolysis reaction of an alkoxy group or the like will not proceed in a short period of time, it has been difficult to bring about sufficient hydrolysis of an alkoxy group or the like in a rubber kneading step. Conventionally, therefore, the rate of reaction between a silane coupling agent and silica is low and the performance of silica cannot be maximized.
As the method for solving the above-mentioned problem, Patent Literatures 1 to 3 disclose adding boric acid or the like in a rubber composition. Still, further improvement in terms of the rate of reaction and the like is desired.